Minn. student practices his preaching at festival

By FRANK LEE, St. Cloud Times

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. (AP) - Cody Maynus knew from a very young age that he wanted to be a preacher, but just how young surprised his kindergarten teacher.

"My public school teacher asked us what we wanted to be when we grew up and asked us to draw that on a piece of paper, and I drew myself standing in a pulpit wearing a robe," said Maynus, a St. John's University sophomore majoring in English and theology.

The festival was hosted by the Academy of Preachers, an initiative underwritten by the Lilly Endowment, which offers young preachers from all denominations the chance to preach before an audience of family, friends and others.

"The National Festival of Young Preachers is a unique opportunity that gives young preachers a chance to speak before a national audience," said Dwight Moody, founder and president of the Academy of Preachers.

Maynus was raised Baptist but switched to the United Church of Christ in his sophomore year of high school. He applied for a spot in the three-day festival.

"I think, being raised Baptist, I had a good grounding in Scripture, but I switched," said Maynus, whose father is a youth pastor. "I was looking for a more progressive faith on social issues and things like that ... and I also wanted a church that had a sense of liturgy and sacrament."

Maynus works as a spirituality and social justice minister at the Campus Ministry at the College of St. Benedict in St. Joseph.

"At the time I got the calling, it felt natural, like it would be foolish to do anything else, and that's sort of how it's been since then," Maynus said of his decision at an early age to preach.

Maynus said he was "less vocal" about his spiritual aspirations while in middle school during those challenging adolescent years where conformity and peer pressure often play a role.

"I think at first my friends might have raised an eyebrow or two, but as they saw that I was just a normal high schooler ... many grew to respect it, and if not respect, then understand," he said.

Preachers may face resistance from those they are trying to reach with their message, but Maynus said he is cognizant of that.

"I think the way I've dealt with it is to assure the person that I care, and that everything that I would say to them theologically or pastorally comes out of a sense of caring, but it's also important to know one's boundaries," Maynus said.

Maynus practiced his festival sermon with Linda Lagergren, his mentor and associate pastor at Resurrection Lutheran Church in St. Joseph.

"I think that every time a preacher gets up in front of the pulpit, he or she is as nervous as the first time they gave a sermon, but I think I'm prepared," Maynus said.

Designed to identify, network, inspire and support those between the ages of 16 and 28 who sense a call to preaching, the Academy of Preachers is the only organization of its kind in the country.

"The fact that there is this huge vacuum is the reason why we have received such enormous endorsement and support across the theological spectrum - Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Fundamentalists, Pentecostal, evangelical, Protestant - our partners run the gamut," Moody said.

"We had lots of talented, smart, young people who came into colleges as ministerial students who wanted to make a difference in the world, but they were not convinced that the preaching was a platform for making a difference in America," he said.

The National Festival of Young Preachers featured 130 preachers from 25 states representing 22 Christian denominations.

"Many dominations and churches do not have enough young people coming into their ministerial preparation tracks," Moody said. He has called several seminaries to recruit young preachers. "Young people are not necessarily sold on the Church."

Maynus, a member of Resurrection Lutheran Church in St. Joseph, returned to the festival for a second year in a row to preach. Maynus had 16 minutes to deliver his sermon to a crowd of 50-100 after a two-minute introduction by his mentor. All the sermons at this year's festival were about the Ten Commandments.

"I wanted to incorporate the fact that baptism is a covenant between the person being baptized and God, and the Ten Commandments are also a covenant between the ancient Hebrews and God ... and in both covenants, God gives us liberation and freedom," Maynus said of his sermon.

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Information from: St. Cloud Times

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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